


Earn My Trust

by Broken_Hearts_Shattered_Dreams



Category: Black Veil Brides
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-22
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-05-02 20:03:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5261642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_Hearts_Shattered_Dreams/pseuds/Broken_Hearts_Shattered_Dreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brynna Radke is Ronnie’s little sister. When, at twenty-one years old, she is raped and left for dead on the side of the road the police alert her brother and his best friend. He’s by her side in a heartbeat along with his best friend, her first crush Andy Biersack. Andy, who’s never seen Brynna as anything but his best friend’s little sister, realizes just how much she means to him. They’ve practically lived in the same house since they were teenagers but he never thought he could really fall in love with her. Follow Brynna and Andy as they find the meaning of love and what it truly means to trust someone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Brynna

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note: So, I came up with this idea after talking to my best friend for three hours. This was partly her idea and I have to thank her. Just a quick note, Ronnie and Andy are NOT famous in this one. They’re just regular guys. I did this because I didn’t want to work in the whole “I’m famous and she’s not” part of Andy and Brynna’s relationship. Also, Ronnie WILL have a love interest but their story will be told in the sequel if you’d enjoy it. Also, I know I change tenses in the first chapter a bit but I'm sorry for that. It's going to stay in present tense from now on. Anyways, here it is. I hope you enjoy. Remember, comments are always welcome!   
> Broken_Hearts_Shattered_Dreams

A scream was locked in my throat as I smelled the familiar aroma of old spice filling my nostrils. There was only one person who wore that cologne and it wasn’t my brother or his best friend. No, the only person that wore that particular cologne was my ex-boyfriend Jesse Long. Jesse and I had been broken up for six months now and he’d been warned by my big brother to stay away from our house. He’d tried to rape me when I’d told him that I didn’t want to have sex with him. Ronnie had walked in on it all and thrown him against the wall, threatening him with death or castration if he ever came near me again. Jesse had seemed scared enough to comply with that request but...here he was again. Right in front of me with that sickening grin on his face. I wanted to cry out for Ronnie or Andy or anyone but...but I couldn’t. Ronnie wasn’t here which meant that Andy wasn’t either. And no one else lived here with the three of us beside my best friend Lily and she was spending the weekend at her parent’s place back in Colorado. 

Jesse came towards me and I backed up, pressing my back against the kitchen counter. He loomed over me and grabbed my arm roughly. Pressing against me, he demanded that I do exactly as he told me to do or he’d kill me. Terrified, I complied and tried to look like I enjoyed the arm he kept firmly around my waist as he led me out of the house. He pulled me into his car and shoved me inside roughly before hurrying around to his side and driving off quickly. I stared back at my house, wondering if I’d ever see it again. Jesse kept stealing glances over at me, a twisted grin on his face, and I wondered what he was going to do to me. Kill me? Rape me? My stomach twisted painfully and I felt like screaming but I fought to keep my emotions in control. No matter what he did to me, he wouldn’t get away with it. Ronnie would know who had done this to me and he wouldn’t rest until Jesse was caught. With that in mind, I took a deep breath and said a silent goodbye to Ronnie, Andy, and Lily, the only three people I actually cared about in the world. 

Jesse stopped at the side of a deserted street and got out of the car. Once again, he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the car. He shoved me into the backseat and started ripping parts of my clothes off. His clothes came next and I squeezed my eyes shut so I wouldn’t have to see his naked body. No matter how tightly I closed my eyes, though, I couldn’t block out the feeling of his penis slipping inside of me. It was rough and it hurt and I felt so dirty all I wanted to do was be at home so I could scrub myself clean. He raped me more three times before pulling the knife out of his pocket. I stared up at the knife, realizing just then how much I really did not want to die. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much choice in the matter as he was currently thrusting the knife into my stomach. 

Things get a little blurry after that. I can feel him tossing my body out onto the road, can hear him laugh as he gets into his car to drive away. I can hear the squealing of his car tires as he drives away. And then there’s silence as I lay bleeding to death on the side of the road. However I pictured myself dying, this had not been it. I closed my eyes against the pain and waited for the blood to finish draining out of my body. It’s then that I heard it. The sound of more tires squealing. Did he come back? Was he going to finish the job? My eyes open and I see the truck then. It’s a pickup truck. Not Jesse’s little Hyundai. 

A man climbs out of the truck, hollering at someone else to call the police. I groan as he lifts me into his arms, carrying me quickly to the truck. It’s a blue truck. A blue dodge truck. There’s a woman sitting in the backseat, cell phone raised to her ear. She’s talking frantically and I can’t understand the words because I’m losing consciousness to quickly. The man returns then, asking my name and I think I tell him what it is because he shouts it at the woman, already speeding off in the direction of what I hope is the hospital. I don’t know for sure because I’ve lost consciousness by the time we’re in motion. 

When I wake up, I’m surrounded by white. Hospital? Or Death? I think it’s a hospital because I still feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. There’s a doctor talking to someone and I feel like I should groan or something to let them know that I’m alive or something. And then my thoughts turn to Ronnie. It’s been hours since Jesse took me from the house. It has to have been. Ronnie’s probably getting worried by now. Andy too, I’d reckon. I’m never out of the house past eight o’clock. Someone needs to tell them I’m here, warn them about Jesse. All I can say is their names. Over and over like a mantra. Ronnie. Andy. Ronnie. Andy. Someone tell Ronnie and Andy.

“Go get the gentlemen in the waiting room, Lisa. She’s asking for them, I believe.”

They’re already here? How did they know? But then I remember that the man who found me told someone to call the police. The police probably alerted them that I was in the hospital already. Thank God. I open my eyes a little wider as my brother and his best friend enter the room, terrified but relieved looks on their familiar faces. The sight of those faces make me cry because I’m so relieved to see them, to know that I’m safe. Nothing can possibly touch me when Andy and Ronnie are around. 

My brother has longish black hair and is really heavily tattooed. He stands at six foot one inch tall and is currently wearing a pair of blue jeans and a black muscle shirt. His best friend stands at six feet four inches tall and has short brown hair the most amazing blue eyes I’ve ever seen. Andy too is heavily tattooed and is currently wearing a tight black t-shirt and a pair of black pants. His hair is disheveled as if he’s been running his hands through it. Which is a nervous habit of his so it’s actually probably what he’s been doing. They rush over to my bedside and Ronnie takes my hand in his. His hands are warm and I give a small sigh as he rubs his thumb along the back side of my hand. Andy stands at my bedside, his eyes red-rimmed and puffy. It looks like he’s been crying but that can’t possibly be true. Andy hasn’t cried since...well since he broke up with Juliet in his senior year of high school. But there’s all the evidence that he’s been crying. 

“You scared us Brynna-girl.” Ronnie says quietly.

Tears stream down my face at the childhood nickname and one of Andy’s hands shoot out to wipe them away. I smile gratefully at him and reach out to clasp his hand in my own. He smiles at me but doesn’t pull his hand away like he usually would. I sit there for a long moment, holding their hands and trying not to cry. The doctor walks back in then to tell Ronnie, Andy, and I what all happened. I’m dreading them knowing that I was raped, dreading hearing their disgusted reactions to knowing that my body has be defiled that way. Not that I think they’re gonna hate me or anything, I just don’t want them to be disgusted. 

“Would you like to hear what all the damage was?” the doctor asks. 

Ronnie’s hand clenches around mine and he nods, rage in his eyes. His face - and Andy’s - is thankfully clear of disgust.

“The stab wound to Brynna’s stomach was, thankfully, shallow so that didn’t do too much damage. She will have stitches for a few weeks but she’ll recover fully from that. What we are worried about is that...well...Brynna seems to have been raped. We discovered semen in her vagina and we do want her to come back for a pregnancy test as well as an STD test because it doesn’t look like the offender used any protection whatsoever.”

This time it’s Andy’s hand that clenches around mine. I look up to find that there are tears openly streaming down my brother’s best friend’s face and he looks more than angry. He looks like he’s either going to kill someone or break down in sobs. He chooses the latter, collapsing onto the side of my bed and burying his face in his hands. I raise the hand that had clasped his and rest it in his hair, trying to soothe whatever’s going through his mind. Ronnie is sinking down on the other side of the bed, hiding his face in my shoulder. There are tears streaming down all three of our faces now and I’m holding on to both of them for dear life. 

“When can we take her home?” Surprisingly, it’s Andy who asks the question. 

The doctor sighs, looking between the three of us. After a moment, he speaks. “You can take her home tonight. I would say tomorrow but...I honestly think she’ll heal a little faster at home where she’s comfortable.” 

“Thanks doc.” Ronnie says, not moving from my shoulder.

“I’ll go and get her discharge papers ready. You boys brought clothes to her as the policemen said, correct?”

Andy nods, holding up a pair of loose fitting sweats and a long t-shirt.

“Her brother might want to help her get dressed. She’s going to be in a lot of pain when she stands up.”

“I will. Andy, you mind getting the car heated up and ready? I don’t want her out in the cold for long.”

“Sure thing bro.”

Andy shrugs out of his big leather jacket and lays it on the bed, telling Ronnie to let me wear it. Ronnie nods, already helping me out of the bed. A sharp pain shoots through my stomach and I wince, leaning heavily on Ronnie as I climb out of bed. Ronnie helps me out of the hospital gown the doctors - or nurses - somehow got me into and into the sweats. They’re still a little tight around the stomach so I have to pull them down a little. Thankfully, the shirt they brought is baggy enough that I don’t have to worry about anyone seeing anything unsavory. After I’m fully dressed - Andy’s jacket and all - the nurse enters again, handing me a set of papers to sign. She tells me to be back in exactly a month for a pregnancy test as well as some STD testing and I nod numbly as Ronnie enters a date into his phone. 

By the time we get outside, Andy’s pulled our car up the entrance and is waiting for us inside. He slides out so Ronnie can drive - Ronnie likes to drive when he’s pissed off about something - and slides in the backseat next to me. He can tell I’m hurting so he tells Ronnie to make a stop at the pharmacy to fill the prescription the doctor gave me for the pain. Laying me down across his lap, he smiles when I thank him. The pain isn’t so bad when I’m laying down and I’m soon falling asleep to the slow rhythm of Andy’s fingers sliding through my hair. I wonder idly why he’s running his fingers through my hair but don’t have the sense to actually ask him. I’m so sleepy...


	2. Andy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Andy and Brynna's POV will alternate between chapters. This is Andy's first chapter. He might be a little OOC but that's kind of the point in this chapter. He's kind of going through a lot in here. Be nice to him. :) Hope you like. Next chapter will be posted as soon as I finish it.

It’s a pretty quiet night all around. Ronnie and I left the house around seven fifteen to go to dinner together. It’s something we do about once a month and we haven’t yet done it this month. We left a note on the counter for Ronnie’s little sister - our roommate - Brynna and then took off. Brynna got out of class around seven thirty and would be home at eight. She’d be worried if she came home and we just weren’t there so we usually left a note when we left before she came home. We headed down the street to Mario’s, a small Italian restaurant that we liked. It’s a chilly night out in Galveston, Texas so we decide to eat inside this time. Ronnie orders the same thing he always does and so do I. We eat and talk for a while, not really paying attention to the time. 

We’re in the middle of a discussion about some band or another a couple of hours later when his phone rings. It’s the sheriff’s office and Ronnie looks up at me, confused. We’re both pretty sure that neither of us have done anything that would have the police calling us. We’re not the crazy teenagers we used to be anymore. Ronnie answers the phone and I watch his face turn ashen as the cop talks to him. He’s freaking out by the time he hangs up the phone and I’m scared too. There’s not a lot that can actually freak Ronnie out but there’s one thing that could. Something must have happened to Brynna. She’s the only family he really has left besides their dad and he’s really protective over her. I kind of am too ‘cause we’ve known each other since we were teenagers and, even though she’s only a few years younger than us, she’s like a little sister. 

“What’s wrong?” I ask, voice quiet.

“Brynna was found on the side of some old back road. She...she’d been stabbed and she was naked when they found her. She...she’s in the hospital in surgery right now.”

My heart nearly stops at the words. There’s only one person that either of us can think of that would do something like that to Brynna and that’s her douche bag of an ex, Jesse Long. They dated for six months before she broke up with him because he tried to rape her. He was pretty pissed ‘cause Ronnie threatened his life if he ever came near Brynna again after that. But I’m wondering how he got to her. Brynna never leaves the house after eight o’clock. She’s always in her room after that, reading or writing or sleeping. (On Fridays, she does join Ronnie and I for a horror movie night in the living room and on Saturdays she does go out for drinks at a local bar with our other roommate Lily.) Which means that the little prick found his way into our house to get to her. 

I close my eyes as we climb into the car, rushing to get to the hospital before she gets out of surgery. We have to make a quick stop at the house to get some clothes for Brynna. The policeman said she’d need new clothes. The whole time, I’m thinking about her. How tough she has to be to still be alive. The policeman said she’d been stabbed an hour ago according to what she’d told the man that had found her. I can’t imagine how terrified she must have been. 

Despite her being Ronnie’s little sister, I haven’t paid much attention to Brynna the last couple years. Not because I dislike her or anything. It’s just been busy lately. She’s been going to college and I’ve been working and shit so I never really have time to think about girls at all. Nor have I stopped to think about how much that girl means to me. Now that she’s laying in a hospital bed, my brain is forcing me to confront that and it’s actually kind of terrifying. Brynna is the only girl I’ve ever known who really actually knows me...and doesn’t try to change some part of me. She’s always really genuinely liked the man I am. She’s quiet but she’s also one of the most genuine people I know. She means more to me than I could have thought possible and the idea that she could have died tonight has my heart pounding so hard I’m afraid that it’s going to fly out of my chest. Ronnie’s probably going to kill me when he finds out but...I might have fallen in love with his little sister and not even realized it until this exact moment. It’s also quite possible that I’ve felt this way for a very long time. (I have a tendency to be blind to certain things until they’re shoved in my face forcefully. Ronnie calls it an Andy Thing. I call it a Moron Thing.)

Ronnie and I head into the hospital and head straight for the desk. Brynna is still in surgery, they tell us, and we’re directed to seats in the waiting room. Ronnie and I take seats...for a second. A second after I sit down, I’m back up and pacing in front of Ronnie. The realization that I’m in love with Brynna keeps my feet moving, keeps my brain thinking about what it’ll be like if she dies. Thoughts of an entire life lived without her ever knowing that she’s the most important thing in the world to me swirl around my mind and I have a hard time focusing on something else. Before I can really process it, tears are streaming down my face and I find myself sinking back into a seat next to Ronnie. He’s watching me carefully and I can see the wheels in his brain moving. I rest my head in my hands and run my hands through my short brown hair, sobbing into my hands at the mere thought that Brynna could die. After a moment, Ronnie rests a hand on my shoulder and I turn to look at him. 

“You love her.” He says and it isn’t a question.

I don’t know what to say so I just nod, tears still streaming down my face. Ronnie stares at me for a second before nodding and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. It’s obvious that he supports the fact that I’m in love with his sister.

“If you ever hurt her, I’ll kill you. But I can’t say I’m surprised. I’ve known you had feelings for Brynna a long time ago.” Ronnie says simply. 

“I’m never going to hurt her. If she’ll have me, I’ll make sure she’s always safe. And I’m going to find the bastard that did this and I’m gonna fucking kill him.” I say.

Ronnie nods. “We’ll find him. And he’ll pay for what he did to our girl.” 

Some part of me likes the way he says ‘our girl’ like she’s already mine as well his. I nod, keeping my face in my hands to avoid everyone and their brother seeing me fuckin’ crying like a baby. We don’t even know what happened to her other than that she was stabbed but...the policeman that called Ronnie said she was naked when they found her. Which...the implication of what that could mean has my heart pounding in my chest. The thought that Brynna, our sweet Brynna, could have been...I can’t even think the word...brings yet more tears to my eyes. Tears of absolute rage this time. Beside me, Ronnie seems to have come to the same conclusion and is breathing evenly and slowly, eyes focused on the floor. It’ll do no good to get all worked up before we’ve even found out for sure if that’s what happened. For all we know she could have fought him off. 

But, when we’re called to Brynna’s room, the doctor confirms what we suspected. Brynna’s been raped. More than once, the nurse tells me outside the room when I’m leaving to pull the car around. That bastard dared to lay his hands on her...dared to hurt her. My hands are clenched so tightly that I can barely drive and I’m glad for once that Ronnie will most likely want to drive. I’m in no condition to be behind the wheel of a car. I lean against the side of the car for a long minute, waiting for Ronnie and Brynna to come out. The cool night air dries the tears on my cheeks and I sigh. I probably still look like hell but at least there aren’t tears on my face anymore. I’ve always hated crying. 

They wheel Brynna out in a wheelchair a few minutes later and she slides into the backseat. I slide into the backseat with her, pulling her across my lap when it looks like she’s going to be in pain. She fights it for a minute, wanting to be strong, but soon lets herself drape across my lap. Her vivid green eyes close as I begin running my fingers through her waist length, black hair. She scoots closer to me in sleep, looking so small and hurt that I want to punch something. I settle for running my fingers through her hair again. The motion seems to keep her calm as we pull into the driveway of our home. Ronnie gets out and opens the door for us and I stand, waking Brynna up briefly. Shushing her back into sleep, I pick her up bridal style and carry her into the house. We lay her in her bed and get her comfortable before leaving to sit in the living room. Ronnie leaves her door open, though, just in case she needs anything. 

Ronnie goes to the kitchen and comes back with a bottle of vodka. Normally, we’d use glasses but tonight we take drinks straight from the bottle. We lean against the couch, drinking in silence for a long moment before Ronnie turns to me. His eyes are curious and I know that it’s time we had that talk. I set the bottle down on the table and turn to him, waiting for his first question. 

“When did you realize that you were in love with my sister?” 

“Tonight, actually. I was sitting there, in the car, thinking about what would happen if she died and it just...slammed me. All of a sudden I just...I knew. I knew that I loved her as more than just a friend or as your little sister.”

“She’s going to lean on you. Especially after tonight...she’s going to need you.”

“I’m going to be there for her. You know I’d never do to her what Juliet did to me.”

“I know. That’s why I’m not going to kick your ass. I can tell you love her. I can tell that she’s important to you. And I trust you. I’ve always trusted you. But she’s my sister. My baby sister. If you break her heart, I’ll fucking castrate you and make you eat your dick.”

“I would never hurt her. Back at the hospital, when you said you’d known for a long time that I was in love with Brynna...what did you mean?”

Ronnie laughs a little. “It’s been obvious since she broke up with shitface. I mean, it was obvious before that too but it got a lot more obvious after that. You obviously hadn’t realized it yet and I didn’t want to say anything until you had. But I knew it. I’ll admit I was kind of pissed at first. I mean, she’s my baby sister and you’re my best friend. But then it kind of hit me that you’re probably the best person for her. Who better for her than someone who knows her? Someone who’s been hurt before and would do anything he could not to hurt her. So I’m okay with it. Doesn’t mean I want to watch the two of you have sex or anything...just means I accept that it’s gonna happen.” 

“We don’t actually know that it’s gonna happen.” I point out.

Ronnie rolls his eyes. “We do, actually. I see the way she looks at you, as well. Like tonight in the hospital when you started crying, it was you she comforted first. She looked to you right before the doctor said what had happened to her, like she wanted to see what your reaction would be. She may not have realized it already but Brynna loves you.”

“God I hope so. You know what went through my mind when we got to the hospital? When they said she was still in surgery?”

“The thing that made you bawl?” Ronnie asks, a note of teasing in his voice. The teasing is just his way of letting me know that it was okay.

“Yeah.”

“What was it?”

“I was picturing what my life would be like without her. What it would be like if she died never knowing that she means more to me than all the world.”

“I was thinking the same thing. I...I was wondering how it would feel to be alone again. We got lucky, bro. She lived. If that guy hadn’t come along when he did...she’d still be layin’ out there on that ground. She’d have died alone and afraid.” 

I lay a hand on his shoulder. “But she didn’t. She’s in her bedroom asleep. Fucked up on pain meds, sure. But she’s alive.” I say quietly as a scream comes from Brynna’s room. 

“Check on her. Please. I...I need to get some air.” Ronnie says and I nod, knowing what he’s trying to do and accepting it. 

In the same movement, I’m up and running towards Brynna’s room. She’s laying in bed, eyes squeezed shut, screaming her lungs out. Her long black hair is plastered to her forehead with sweat and she’s crying. The sight breaks my heart...and makes me want to find and kill Jesse fuckin’ Long. Moving as quickly as I can, I move over to her bed and scoop her into my arms. Nothing calms her down until I move my fingers through her hair, gently scratching her scalp. Slowly, she starts to calm down and then her eyes open. She stares at me, confusion laced with left over horror from whatever nightmare she’s just had, mingling on her face. 

“Why are you being so nice?” she asks quietly.

I bend down, brushing my lips against her forehead. “We’ll talk about that in the morning. Right now you just need to go back to sleep.” 

She opens her eyes wider even though I can see she’s dead tired. “I don’t want to sleep. He comes back when I do...”

“Would it help if I slept in here with you? To keep you safe?”

She nods, looking ashamed. “Then that’s what I’ll do. Just let me go change into some sweats and a muscle shirt.”

“Andy?” she calls softly as I’m walking towards my room.

“Yeah?”

“You don’t have to do this.”

I smile at her. “I’m not doing it because I have to. I’m doing it because I want you to feel safe. Now hang tight. I’ll be right back and then we’ll both sleep. I’m tired too ya know.”

She smiles but still looks guilty, like she’s taking me away from someone else. Which is ridiculous. There’s no one else but her. And there’ll be no one else but her. Maybe she thinks I’d prefer to sleep alone but I wouldn’t. Tonight is the kind of night when I’d prefer to sleep curled around her, so that I know she’s safe. Because if there’s anywhere that she’s safe, it’s in my arms. I’d sooner die than let anyone else touch her. And when I tell her that after the next nightmare, she burrows against my chest and murmurs about feeling safe with me. My heart warms and I kiss her temple, falling into sleep myself.


	3. Brynna

Chapter Three  
Brynna

When I wake up the next afternoon, Andy is still sleeping. He’s got his arms locked around my waist and his head is resting against my chest. I don’t have any intentions of moving. Unlike in the movies, I’m pretty sure I know why he’s acting differently now. I’m not blind. Yeah, I was pretty out of it last night but I heard him whisper the words when he thought I was asleep again. He told me he loved me, that he wasn’t sure how long he’d loved me, but that he did and that no one would ever hurt me again. It’s why, when a nightmare woke me up thirty minutes after hearing it, I told him that he was where I felt safest. It was the truth. Andy’s arms were warm and tight - not too tight - and safe. 

I gazed down at him as he slept, noticing how much younger he looked when he was sleeping. He looked like he could be eighteen instead of twenty-nine. He wears a black muscle shirt that showcase perfectly the tattoos I’ve always loved and he’d forgotten to take his lip piercings out when he’d fallen asleep and I have the sudden urge to kiss him awake. I resist the urge by placing a gentle kiss against his forehead before burrowing back against his chest where it’s warm. My abdomen is starting to pulse faintly and I feel slightly sick but I don’t want to move. When Andy wakes up, I’ll get my pain meds and move out to the living room where he and Ronnie will be. But for now, Andy’s arms are all the pain management I need. 

Andy sleeps for another twenty minutes before his blue eyes open and he’s staring at me. The moment is intense but not uncomfortable. We both realize that something has drastically changed between us and we both know what it is between us. It’s there, shining in his eyes as he stares at me. Love. I’ve known that I’m in love with Andy since we moved in together officially. It was right after my high school graduation and I’d been kicked out of the house I’d been living in. All my roommates had wanted to do was party and I’d been the party pooper, according to them. And so I had called Ronnie but he’d been working and hadn’t answered his phone. I’d called Andy next and, even though it was three in the morning, he’d gotten up to come and pick me up. I had been living in Dallas, which is some ways away from our current home in Galveston, and Andy had driven the whole way just to make sure that I didn’t sleep on the streets. That had been when I realized that the feelings I’d had for him in high school had never truly gone away. But now he returns those feelings and, while it’s scary, I’m not going to be stupid enough to push him away. I’m going to embrace this and use it to help me recover from what I’ve been through. 

“Do you want to talk now?” Andy asks, looking down at me.

“Yeah. Let’s talk before I have a pain pill.”

He looks worried. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to be in pain.”

“The pills make me sleepy. I want to be awake through this. Don’t worry. I can handle it.”

He nods. “If you’re sure.”

“I love you. That’s...that’s why I’m acting so differently. Last night, when we got the news that you’d been stabbed and were in the hospital, the realization that I was in love you just kind of slammed into me and I couldn’t even breathe. Ronnie...he says he’s known how I feel about you for a long time now. I have no idea how long I’ve felt this way...just that when it hit me...it hit me hard.”

“I’ll admit that I’m shocked...but I’ve loved you since I was in high school. The fact that you now reciprocate those feelings is...kind of amazing.”

Andy gapes at me, eyes wide. “That’s...Brynna, why didn’t you ever say anything.”

“At first, you were still really hurt over Juliet...and then I...well, I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“In any case, Ronnie approves, you know. He said that I’m pretty much the only person he trusts with you. Still threatened to castrate me if I hurt you but...he approves.”

“I figured he would approve. My brother wants us both happy. And if we’re happy together...then he’ll be happy.”

“I just want you to know that I’m serious about this. This isn’t a passing fancy for me. I’m not going to change my mind. I love you and I’m staying. I’m going to help you get through this and we’re gonna be that couple that’s still madly in love when we’re eighty. I can promise that.”

I stretch a little bit to wrap my arms around his neck. Pressing my lips against his, I capture him a first kiss that sends fireworks going off behind my eyelids. Andy tastes of night-old toothpaste but it’s the best taste in the world. When we pull away, I whisper the words back to him, smiling when his face lights up. 

“Help me out into the living room. There’s no way I’m going to lay in here all day.”

“Then you’ll lay on the couch.”

“Of course. I’m in too much pain to do anything else.”

“Come on, I’ll help you out to the living room.”

I move to stand up but Andy shakes his head at me and moves to pick me up. He picks me up bridal style and carries me out into the living room. Setting me down on the smaller of our two couches, he goes to get a pain pill and I relax against the couch. Ronnie’s in the kitchen making coffee or breakfast or something. Andy comes back a few minutes later with two pain pills and a cup of steaming coffee. My face breaks into a smile as I thank him. The pain pills take some of the pain away but my abdomen still stings a little. 

Andy sits down a minute later, pulling my head into his lap and setting his own coffee cup on the table. Ronnie comes out of the kitchen a minute after that and smiles at us, eyes twinkling with mirth and I know that he’s going to tease us mercilessly. It’s his way of making himself feel better...and he probably genuinely wants to tease us. I can’t think of a single time in my life when Ronnie hasn’t wanted to tease Andy or I. He even teases Lily sometimes. Though he’s nicer to her than he is to anyone else almost...because he’s got a fucking crush on her. Speaking of Lily...

“Did anyone call Lil?” I ask quietly, thinking of the fact that my best friend is in Colorado and has no idea about any of this.

Ronnie nods. “Called her when I woke up this morning. She’s on her way home now.”

My eyes roll. “You didn’t have to send her home right away, Ronnie. I’m sure she could have spent the rest of the weekend with her parents.”

It’s Ronnie’s turn to roll his eyes. “She’s the one who insisted on coming home, actually. I told her that we had everything under control and she said she needed to come home. Something about you needing your best friend.”

Well, Lily kind of has a point. 

“I’m glad she’s coming home. It’ll be nice to have a woman around. All this testosterone is suffocating.” I say, smirking.

Ronnie rolls his eyes. “I neglected to tell her that you and Andy are now a thing, though. Kind of want to see the look on her face when she realizes that I’ve won our bet.”

Andy’s head snaps up. “You bet on...what exactly?” Andy asks, eyes narrowing at his best friend.

Ronnie grins widely. “We bet on when you and Brynna would finally get together. She didn’t think it’d happen until after she graduated from college. I knew it would be a lot sooner than that. So I bet that it would only be a few months. That was exactly a month ago.”

I’m still not sure if I should slap that grin off his face or laugh. I settle for laughing and Andy joins a minute later, eyes twinkling with laughter. Laughing hurts, I find quickly. But it feels so much better to laugh than to think about what happened so I continue laughing, holding my stomach when it begins to hurt. 

“Dude, you are a fuckin’ weirdo.” Andy says when we finally stop laughing. 

Ronnie grins. “Yeah, but you love me and you know it.”

Andy rolls his eyes. “Sometimes, I’m not so sure.” 

Ronnie puts on a mock offended face, covering his heart with his hand. “I’m so offended that I might just cry.”

“Ronnie?” I ask.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

We continue talking and laughing most of the day. I do sleep a lot but I find that the nightmares aren’t worth the sleep and so I stay awake for most of the day. Andy stays close to me, leaving only once to go pick up a pizza for dinner. Ronnie seems to be trying to let us have what he would call ‘alone time’ because he eats dinner in his room, coming out only to wink at us and mutter something about a cute couple under his breath. When we go to sleep, Andy curls carefully around me in the small bed, his arms wrapped protectively around me as we fall into sleep. Even though I know I’m safe with him, I know I’m going to have a couple of nightmares tonight. I’ll get through them, though, with Andy at my side.


End file.
